Bilbray and 51 Other Members of Congress Oppose Obama's
Postponement of E-Verify, Again
June 10, 2009

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Brian Bilbray, Chairman of the Immigration Reform Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, has recently sent President Barack Obama a letter, signed by 51 other members of Congress, regarding opposition to the Administration's postponement of the E-Verify program. In the letter, the members stated, "We oppose the Administration's decision to delay, for a third time, the requirement that federal contractors use E-Verify to confirm that new hires are eligible to work in the United States legally."

"E-Verify is a successful and important program and is the key to the moderate position for immigration reform," said Congressman Bilbray. "As the federal government places regulations on the business community, it needs to be responsible in helping those businesses navigate those regulations. E-Verify illustrates this responsibility, and the Obama Administration should stop postponing this program."

Technically, this is the fourth time this year that the E-Verify program has been delayed. The Bush Administration delayed the program just days before Obama's inauguration.

As Members of the House of Representatives, we appeal to you on behalf of American taxpayers. We oppose the Administration's decision to delay, for a third time, the requirement that federal contractors use E-Verify to confirm that new hires are eligible to work in the United States legally.

On June 6, 2008, former President George Bush amended Executive Order 12989 and directed all federal departments and agencies to require certain contractors use E-Verify, a free Internet-based system that allows enrolled employers to confirm the legal status of new hires within seconds. Operated jointly by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and Social Security Administration (SSA), E-Verify electronically matches information found on the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (Form I-9) against government databases. Over 122,000 U.S. employers currently use the E-Verify system, many voluntarily, with approximately 1,000 new employers signing up each week.

The E-Verify program enjoys a success rate of 99.6%, meaning that 99.6% of those legal workers checked by the program are verified without receiving a tentative non-confirmation (TNC) or having to take any type of corrective action. Testifying last June, Rep. Heath Shuler said, "E-Verify is handling at least one in eight new hires already. Based on recent load testing, the system has the capacity to handle 240 million queries a year -that's four times the number of people in the United States who are usually hired in a given year." The E-Verify program is reliable, easy to use and, most importantly, expedient.

For a fourth time this year, the effective date of the E-Verify requirement for federal government contractors has been delayed. The reported reason for the delay is in order to give the Administration additional time to review the regulation, which was originally scheduled to be implemented on January 15, 2009 after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) designated E-Verify as the employment eligibility verification system for federal contractors. E-Verify was originally established under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-208). The Administration has had plenty of time to review this rule. We find it unacceptable that the rule has been put on hold since Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has stated publically that she supports E-Verify and wants to see it extended beyond the Sept. 30 expiration date.

Employers who break the law by hiring illegal immigrants create unfair competition in the labor market and depress wages for all workers. According to estimates from the Pew Hispanic Center, roughly 7.7 million illegal immigrants were employed in the United States in 2008. These are all jobs that currently unemployed United States workers-both citizens and legal immigrants-could and should have a chance to fill, especially if U.S. taxpayers are paying the bill for federal government contracts. Requiring federal contractors to use E-Verify is a good government practice that should not be delayed. Taxpayer dollars should not be used to employ illegal immigrants and E-Verify is the only way we can make sure we are protecting taxpayer dollars.